The deal

The new deal, between U.S. Soccer and the U.S. Women’s National Team Players Association goes through 2021, carrying through the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup and the 2020 Olympics.

“We are pleased to announce that U.S. Soccer and the U.S. Women’s National Team Players Association have ratified a new collective bargaining agreement which will continue to build the women’s program in the U.S, grow the game of soccer worldwide, and improve the professional lives of players on and off the field. We are proud of the hard work and commitment to thoughtful dialogue reflected through this process, and look forward to strengthening our partnership moving forward,” U.S. Soccer said in a statement.

Why was a new deal needed?

The last one had expired but was continuing to be used until a new deal was agreed upon.

All of this comes after a busy 2016 which saw five USWNT stars accuse U.S. Soccer of wage discrimination after it was reported that the women’s team received $2 million for winning the last World Cup, while Germany got $35 million for beating Argentina in the men’s World Cup. In addition, the USWNT reportedly brought in almost $20 million more than the U.S. last year and were looking to get equal pay to that of the men for appearances, wins, etc.

Obviously this is a big win for the women in their fight for equal compensation. By agreeing to the deal, they are certainly happy with the offer and can now move forward without this being a distraction.

The USWNT returns to action on Thursday against Russia in a friendly at 8:30 p.m. ET.

Roger Gonzalez is an award-winning writer based in Virginia that has covered pro soccer from Europe's top clubs to Argentina's first division. Roger started out his pro soccer writing career with Goal.com...
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